


It's Nothing Personal

by outlawed_to_the_stars



Series: Short Stories [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Brainwashing, Death, Fire, Original work - Freeform, Tumblr Prompt, Whump, car crash, gun - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outlawed_to_the_stars/pseuds/outlawed_to_the_stars
Summary: Alex didn't mean for any of this to happen! He didn't have a choice! He promised! He didn't mean for Jess to die! He didn't mean for Elliot to end up the way he did! But he did it and how he has to deal with the consequences...It's nothing personal...I swear...
Series: Short Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753738
Kudos: 1





	It's Nothing Personal

**Author's Note:**

> The first three paragraphs are from a prompt by @/write-it-motherfuckers on Tumblr

Alex scrambles across the road, rain pounding onto the asphalt. Lightning streaks across the cloudy night, illuminating the street with the thunder booming. He slips for a second, his hands hitting the ground, but he does not stop, launching himself back up and sprints for the body at the other side of the road.

"No, no no no no no no no NO!" He curses to himself, sliding down next to the body. "Jess? Jessie?" Alex murmurs frantically, picking up her body and cradling her head in his lap.

"C'mon Jess, you can't do this to me," Alex starts to tear up, his voice wavering. "We were going-"

He is immediately cut off by a firm hand clamping around his mouth and nose. He writhes around in an attempt to free himself and his arms flail around, trying to strike his attacker.

"Stop fucking moving." The attacker's low growl makes him stop dead. Their grip weakens for a second and Alex seizes his opportunity. He ducks under the attackers' arms and rolls away from them, leaving Jess' limp body to thump back on the road.

He scrabbles to get to his feet, the water on the road making it hard to get any sort of grip and the small explosions from the flaming car behind him providing a stark contrast to the ice-cold air around him.

"Elliot? Is that---Is that you?" He says, his teeth chattering. 

The attacker rises from where he was down on one knee next to Jess' body. He turns to Alex and pulls off the mask to reveal deep blue eyes and wild, soaking wet, brown hair.

"Yea...it's me."

"Why? Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?"

"It's nothing personal."

"HOW?!" Alex scrapes his blond hair away from his eyes and screams at the boy he thought he knew. "HOW IS THIS NOTHING PERSONAL!?"

He's confused and scared and angry. He's sad and he's frozen and he's a complete whirlwind of so many emotions he has no idea of how his heart keeps pounding in his chest.

"I have my orders, Alex." Elliot replies calmly, almost reassuring Alex that it was out of his control.

"From who?" 

"You know who." He replies again, just as unnervingly calm as before.

Alex opens his mouth to speak again, to ask why this is all happening, but the wreck of something that used to resemble his car explodes behind him again. He cries out as the oil from the engine leaks out and slithers its way away from the car. The flames follow. 

They get so close that he's forced to step closer to Elliot. As he advances, he notices something on Elliot.

A gun in a holster at his hip.

He points to it, not thinking. "Why haven't you used that?" He asks, warily.

It takes Elliot a few seconds to answer, but when he finally does, it shakes Alex to his core.

"Because I wanted to give you a chance." Elliot sighs and reaches for the gun.

"No! No! Please!" Alex falls to his knees and puts his hands up, the terror coursing through his body overriding the rational part of him completely. The adrenaline taking over.

Elliot tries to ignore Alex's pleas as he pulls the gun out and clicks off the safety.

"I'm sorry." He can't look Alex in the eyes. "But I have my orders."

"No." Alex whispers through the tears gushing down his face. He starts to shake as the reality of his situation sets in. "No. Please, Elliot."

Elliot takes a step forwards, getting closer to the petrified 17-year-old in front of him. He stares at the ground.

"Elliot! Please don't do this! I--I'll do anything! Please! I know what they did to you and I can help you! Just...please! Don't do this!" This makes Elliot look up at him.

"How could you possibly know what they did?" He says, his voice barely above a whisper.

Although his voice is scarcely audible, it is louder than the raging thunderclaps that somehow drown out the roar of the rain battering the asphalt.

"Because...Because I was there!" Alex admits. "I was there when they took you! I was there when you arrived! I---I was there pressing the buttons! Reading out the words! Locking you back in afterwards!"

He hangs his head in pure shame and self-hatred. "I didn't want to do it!" 

He looks back up to see the horror and loathing in Elliot's eyes, but forces himself to look him in the eyes.

"I swear! I didn't want to do it! I didn't have a choice!" His pleas falling on deaf eyes.

Elliot had already made up his mind.

"You did have a choice." He lifts his gun with a shaking hand and aims it at the centre of Alex's head.

"You know you had a choice."

The gun spits out the bullet and the shot rings out loud and clear. But it wasn't like anyone would be able to hear it. Not out there.

Time stands still for both boys, then just as the bullet touches Alex's forehead, time catches up again and Alex falls backwards.

He lands flat on his back, arms outstretched, blood pooling around him and oozing into his hair.

Elliot stares down at the body, a sneer on his face as he put his gun back in his holster. He throws a gob of spit down and it just misses Alex's face.

"It's nothing personal."


End file.
